Toe rest



Sept. 28, 1948. c. wooDMAN 2,450,068 v TOE REST Filed April 16, 1947 Innen zor Char/es ff. Woodman By his Alto rrzey Patented Sept. 28, 1-948 HAN-:Fr-s-:D STATES PATENT' OFFICE .ilustres TUE REST liarl'es. ...wbodnin, BeverlyaMass., assigner t0 United Shoe Machinery CorporatlfomFlemiigtn', Jj., a corporation oif'lfietir'lei`rsey'A y "Application april. 16, 1947,. seiarNa k'7511x149 s claims. (cria-ier) 'lhis invention relates to machines for use thenmanufacture of shoes and more particularly tu shcessupporting; means Ior toe; rests. The .ine vention is. herein illustrated as applied to means 'for supporting the' forepart of ashoeagainst pressure applied to its bottom in theopelation of cementsole-attaching. It is tobeunderstood, however,. thatjn. its more general aspects.- the invention. is` not limited to. means ior operating on; that particular, portion of a shoe' nor. to machines. for pressing soles on Shoe bottOmS,

Ingsomefmachines for operating on shoesv, sub stantiali pressureis' applied to the top of the forepart: of theshoe morder t0,- sllpPOrt the. shoe in proper position. or, toy ,cooperate with means for. applying pressure to its b ttom. In cementfsolef attachingz machines, for. example; heavy pressure is.' applied: for a. considerable. time to` the forepart of:r the; shoeA WhileV the shoe .and 4sole arebeing pressed `tightly together to allowthe. cement -be-- tween' them toset. The commonly usedfelt. or other' cushionlwit-h which toe rests are provided does not evenlxuistrbute the applied pressure over the; area pres sed on, with the result that ex cessive pressure is applied to somepart/ of the arear pressed.I Ori-.and marking of .the upper .occur-'ss Suchfgnarks are, difcult toremove. Moreover, ,the action 0f `Such a cushion-1S progressive, that is, the 7 more pressure the greater the yield without 4any-definite limit. Objectsgof this invention are to provide means fer-evenly-dstributinsthe .pressure ,Over the whole area towhch pressure iS applied end then toSustainj thepressure. unyieldinely, Thus the danger of iuiurrtoihe-.upper 0f theshee. is avoided and thev position of. the` shoe is 1 accurately maintained,-

le the irmf, illustrated, Va Gesine .hw-ins op: positie' parallel sides. andv a bottom perpendicular the sides is. provided in yWhich, .p erpen d;i c1 i 1ar ZQ;'h6:b0t0m; 1S.- .ar fllltiplty Off elngle mem-r bers or Irods parallel to` each. other with their iepercepids @eww/ins an aree-equal te thatpr they n @cantine cas-maand timmer, outer se perdons. extendingbeyoed-the .easing-. treed theifieer. ends .0f-'tpe rods .andthe-bottom ofthe casing isamass.7V of. steel balls ot admeter 2 tinfg ,theb ottomoi tile: :asing1 as occurs when heavy pressurel is fapltnlieds to the rest.. 'lhe polished surface of the sheet also facilitates movementof the balls when diierentporticnsof the4 mass. are under unequalpressure.. A iieXible covery 63126111.15- over the exposed ends of. thel rods and means other. than. the. cov-er for holdingr the rods in the; casing .l s provided So thaty the covfer vvhicnis `small. relatively tor the. end area of one f or.' trierudslf The ro .ar'e' preferably squarein crossysection andere arranged in rows both longitudinally and laterally' 'of the casing, 121i the bottom ci the casing is apolished sheet offmaterialharder than tfe mater al'M of'thecasing, such asyhard steel, Wficli 'prevents thev bal-ls fromindenting or pitmay b erernovedv withoutdanger of the rodsand meansv beingfarranged. to. permit the. desired relatiVeend-wise movement ofthe rods. v Theseand othepfeatures ofA the invention will appeal? more fully from: the. following. description' the plane inc'li'cated` by the line IV-IV in Fig.

Ziandf.:

Hg. 5'7 is a fragmentary .sectional View .taken in a planeindicated by the line V V of Fig, 4. The. tOerestoi; the present invention comprises a casing having a bottom Wall i0. provided Withla supporting stem` 1.2 end walls 4, |.6- and side Wallst i8, 2 0, .hefoppositewalls being parallel. to

each other; and the; end Walls joining the side walls and. thebottomat right. angles. In ,the casing is amultiplicity of prismatic. Y elongate members.- Suches r0ds,.. 22; preferablridenueal in ross sectior1. T heoiiter end pOrtonsof the rods extend beyondtheopen sidepf the casingA The rodsare incontiguous parallel relation andere arijanged i n,rovvs both longitudinally and later'- ally cf tli e ca sing. Inl/the bottornof thecasing is@ nagd-steelp1ate 24,. and between this and theinneuends; of the rods 2 2 ls.a mass ci.l steel balls 2 5. In a toe rest,v for examplathe rods may be 1A; inch square and of a convenient lengthand Witnrodsof; that. size.` it i'sjound Athat balls 1% to of an inch, in diameterlgive satisfactoryref suits. The rods 22 being freelymovable endwise Within. theflimits .ef use, it will be apparent that pr sure applied to theouter end of one of rthe lQdSAWilLbQ transmitted through .the; mass of .bai-ls if their movement is unopposed, will move outwardly; that is, the rods will shift in or out until the pressure applied or sustained by theirl outer ends is substantially equal and hence the surface represented by their combined outer ends will conform to the contour of the Surface pressed on or sustained by the rods. Thus, when the rods are pressed upon an irregular surface, their ends first conform to the contour of the surface and then rigidly sustain the pressure, the mass of balls becoming rigid after they have shifted so that there is substantially equal pressure on the inner ends of the rods.

A cover 23 of flexible material such as leather is attached by screws 3l) to the side 2o of the casing, passed acr-oss the ends of the rods 22 and secured by screws 32 to the otherside i8. The

cover would prevent displacement of the rods from the casing but, since the covershave sometimes to be changed or removed, it is preferable to provide other means for retaining the rods in the casing. For this purpose the contiguous'sides of each two rows of square rods extending across the casing beginning with the rst two rows at one end are recessed at to receive a round rod 36 which is passed through the wall i8 of the casing and between the square rods 22 in the recesses iid and enters a hole in the opposite wall 2i! of the casing. The recesses 36ipermit limited free longitudinal movement of the rods 212 relatively to each other and to the casing but prevent the rods 22 from falling out when the cover is removed, the diameter of the rods being greater than the depth of one of the recesses. By this arrangement each round rod to holds two transverse rows of square rods 22 so that only half as many round rods need be provided as there are transverse rows of rods 22. rlhe rods 36 are called round merely for identification, it being apparent that rods or bars of various cross-sections may be employed for the same purpose. It is also obvious that the rods 3&3 may extend lengthwise of the casing instead of crosswise, in which case a less number of rods would be required. It is desirable that the cover extend crosswise of the, casing and, by arranging the rods 36 also crosswise, they may, as illustrated, be held in place by the same means which holds the cover. For this purpose the ends of the rods 36 are secured to a plate lill which is held in place by the same screws 32 which hold one end of the cover 28. The ends of the rods 22 which engage the cover 2S are preferably somewhat rounded to prolong the wear of the cover. The stem i2 is for attaching the rest to a machine such as a cement sole-attaching machine, for example one having an inflatable pad, such a pad being indicated at i2 in Fig. 1,

It is, ofcourse, immaterial whether the pad moves toward the shoe S or the toe rest moves toward the shoe cr both. In either case the rods 22 shift endwise to conform to the contour of the area of the shoe engaged thereby and then be come rigid for sustaining or applying further pressure. rEhe balls, once equal 'pressure is applied to them by the rods, become immovable and, being incompressible, sustain the conformed rods rigidly without the necessity of additional locking means for the rods.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. n a shoe machine, a rest for engaging the forepart of a shoe upon a last, said rest comprising a casing having a bottom, a plurality of elongate members grouped in the casing in contiguous parallel relation to one another with their outer ends exposed and relatively movable in that relation when the rest and shoe are pressed together to -conform to the portion of the surface of the shoe which is engaged by the rest, a mass of steel balls between the inner ends of the elongate members and the bottom of the casing, a cover over the exposed ends of the elongate members, and means other than the cover for retaining said members in the casing.

2. A shoe rest for engaging the forepart of a shoe, comprising a casing having a bottom and a stem by which it may be attached to a shoe machine, a plurality of parallel rods in the casing, a mass of steel balls in the casing between the rods and the botto-m of the casing, contiguous surfaces of the rods having recesses extending longitudinally of the rods, and means secured to the casing and passing freely through said recesses to prevent removal of the rods from the casing.

3. A shoe rest for engaging the forepart of a shoe, comprising a casing having a stem by which it may be attached to a shoe machine and a bottom, a plurality of parallel rods in the cas# ing, a mass of steel balls in the casing between the rods and the bottom of the casing, contiguous surfaces of the rods having opposed recesses extending longitudinally of the rods, and means carried by the casing and passing freely through said recesses to prevent removal of the rods from the casing, said means being thicker transversely of the rods than the depth of the recesses.

4. A toe rest for shoe machines comprising a casing having a bottom, a plurality of square rods in the casing, a mass of steel balls in the casing between the rods and the bottom of the casing, said rods being arranged contiguous parallel relation in a plurality of rows, the rods of each two rows beginning with the rst two having in their contiguous faces opposed recesses extending lengthwise of the rods, and round rods held in the casing and extending through said recesses', the diameter of the rods being greater than the depth of the recesses.

5. In a shoe rest, a casing having a rectanguiar recess and a bottom perpendicular tothe walls of the recess, square rods arranged in rows which extend transversely of the casing, said rods being disposed in contiguous parallel relation and being freely movable relatively to each other, each of said rods having a longitudinally extending recess in one face thereof, and means extending transversely'of the rods in said recesses to prevent removal of the rods.

6. A shoe rest for engaging the forepart of a shoe, comprising a casing having a bottom and stem by which it may be attached to a shoe machine, a plurality of parallel rods in the casing, a mass of steel balls in the casing between the rods and the bottom of the casing, a hardened steel plate on the bottom of the casing in contact with the balls, contiguous surfaces of the rods having recesses extending longitudinally of the rods, and means secured to the casing and .passing freely through said recesses to prevent removal of the rods from the casing.

7. In a shoe machine, a rest for engaging the forepart of a shoe upon a last, said rest comprising a casing having a bottom, a plurality of elongate members grouped in the casing in contiguous parallel relation to one another with their outer ends exposed and relatively movable in that relation when the rest and shoe are pressed together to conform to the portion of the surface of the shoe which is engaged by the rest, contiguous faces of said members having opposed recesses, a mass of steel balls between the inner ends of said elongate members and the bottom of the casing, a cover over the exposed ends of the elongate members, pins extending transversely of the casing through said recesses, and common means for holding the cover and pins in position.

8. In a shoe rest, a casing having a rectangular recess and a bottom perpendicular to the Walls of the recess, square rods arranged in rows which extend transversely of the casing, said rods being disposed in contiguous parallel relation and being freely movable relatively to each other, each two transverse rows having recesses in contiguous faces of the rods, means located between each two transverse rows of rods REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

` UNITED STATES PATENTS 15 Number Name Date 2,068,012 Finn Jan. 19, 1937 2,255,000 Haber, et al. Sept, 2, 1941 

